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there's nothing easy or convenient about doing a trill with 3 and 4, especially when you've never done trills before. Now, I just make sure I get the D at the end of measure six with my third finger, and then it's relatively easy.

Remember - trills aren't necessarily fast.

My teacher often says for my ragged trills : "Not so fast - this isn't Liszt. One day I'll learn a piece by him and see if she'll say it!

Actually the trills in my Chopin nocturne are coming along quite nicely!

Cathy thanks. I found out WiseBuff is going to SummerKey too. I wish we coordinated it better!

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

Just got word from Amazon that my books are getting shipped sooner than expected! Not everything was in stock and they indicated "one to three weeks". Great, it's next week! Very much looking forward to receiving "Divenire" and "In a Time Lapse" by Ludivico Einadi, as well as "Collection" and "Solos for New Age Piano" by David Lanz. Goodbye, boredom (Not that you can ever get bored with a piano at home.)

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

Ragdoll - It sounds like your Canon in D is coming along. I just recently found a nice version of this I want to learn as well. It is a beautiful piece.

Thank you SwissMS.

Yes it is coming along but quite slowly because the last time I was working it daily, I became obsessed with it to the point of neglecting other studies. I am mostly concentrating on the Sally Gardens piece now and giving the Canon in D about 10 minutes a day. Mostly in the 16th notes in the melody.

My AOTW is not earth shattering but is something I was unsure I could actually do. I took a piece I'm fairly familiar with and transposed it on the fly to another key...in fact two other keys.

It was sort of a self test as to my grasp of the same progressions and fingering in other keys. I'm kinda proud of that, not that it was a huge musical struggle but still, just sayin'.

Warlock, that’s very exciting. I don’t have any advice for you as I’ve only ever played in one recital and that was 2 years ago – Using the metronome can be really great, especially for gradually getting up to tempo!

FarmGirl – what a lovely picture of you and Wisebuff!!!! You both look so very very happy --- and why not?!! I love that PW manages to bring folks from all over together to share this wonderful passion !

Toastie - nice to see you back. You sound very strong and optimistic, which is great to hear after your talk about the major upheavals in your life. Wishing you all the best as you move forward and recover your balance.

Torquenale – I think it is really fun that you are playing with both your sons! Congrats on getting back to your Schumann piece. I’m about to launch into my second of his works and I am really enjoying his style.

JimF – isn’t it interesting (ok, and really frustrating) to figure this out? Going faster means training faster…. It should be obvious, but it isn’t! I think it is great that you’re even happier with your Moonlight now – how very very satisfying!

Earlofmar: Improving your sight reading is such a worthwhile use of your time. If you can read smoothly so many musical doors will open wide for you!

SwissMS – I have discovered, to my astonished joy! That the staccato and legato in one hand is not as difficult as it seemed even just 2 days ago! I’m thrilled! This will be my piece for the May recital so you’ll be able to hear it  As for “how to bring a piece up to tempo”….(not that I’ve really done it, but I know the theory!)… Master the fingering and get the piece flowing smoothly at a slow speed. Use your metronome to see what your “comfy” tempo is, and when you’re ready to start going faster, increase the speed of the metronome just a little bit – get comfortable, then increase a bit more and so on, until you’re where you want to be.As for when is it mastered? Well, I think there are two things to consider : mastering the techniques, and mastering for performance. Often as beginners we only master enough to learn the technique that a given piece has to offer us. This is especially true for the 1 page “throw aways” (as Jim calls them). The pieces we work on for a week or two, basically just to learn how to do A or B or C.As we learn longer and more interesting pieces, there is more to be done to master them technically and then, I think we get to the point where we begin to master them musically – for performance. I think that when we WANT to perform our piece – be it in a recording in the Piano Bar, in the ABF recital or (gasp!) in front of a live audience – then we’ve mastered a piece as much as we can for the time being. There’s always room to improve, right?

Larry Shone --- It is a big accomplishment – I clearly remember the brain strain of the first few days I played --- I would be exhausted after 15 minutes of the intense focus it required! Things will only get better from here on in!

Augustina! Welcome!!! It sounds like your new music program is perhaps filling in some study gaps from before, and preparing you nicely to share your music. When you play for the audience, just imagine a little red dot sitting in the middle of the crowd – by now you’ve recorded so much the little red dot is your friend! I’m sure you’ll do well – and remember, your audience is composed of your fellow students – they WANT you to succeed – there is no better, more supportive audience!

(Jim again--- love your sticker for Augustina!!)

Andy Platt – great to hear your Noctune is coming along! Are we going to hear it in the next recital (ha ha ha ha….sorry, I couldn’t resist!! YES I remember what you said last time)

Allard – I see you have been bitten by the “I must own more sheet music” bug! Have fun with your new books!

Ragdoll – transposing is great training! Some of my books have notes at the bottom of the studies with instructions to continue with the piece going into different keys. Argh. It is tricky, but fun to try. If you are already doing this, you will find that at a certain point – for many pieces – you won’t have to write out the new version, you’ll be able to do it on the fly!

I had a major breakthrough today! (this is basically what I wrote in the “can’t focus” thread so…some of you may have already seen it)I took into consideration the advice I got from the “can’t focus “ thread and what my teacher suggested. Yesterday I worked at figuring out what my "comfortable speed" was for the two pieces I wanted to record, and I got the metronome settings , and wrote them on the scores.

Then I just played the metronome and hummed the piece to myself for a few minutes, and then I started the recording. It worked fabulously!!!!!!I didn't feel at all nervous, I could feel I was breathing with the phrasing, able to think about what I was doing and prepare in time, comfortably. I did have a couple of little glitches but they were more of the "slipping off the key" type rather than a "mistake".I was so very very pleased.

What I realized was different was that I was in control. That’s a really satisfying AOTW!

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

If you are already doing this, you will find that at a certain point – for many pieces – you won’t have to write out the new version, you’ll be able to do it on the fly!

I think you misunderstood my post. I didn't "transcribe" them first but did just play them on the fly. (and with more than a few errors at first) It was so satisfying to see that I was able to do this.

If you are already doing this, you will find that at a certain point – for many pieces – you won’t have to write out the new version, you’ll be able to do it on the fly!

I think you misunderstood my post. I didn't "transcribe" them first but did just play them on the fly. (and with more than a few errors at first) It was so satisfying to see that I was able to do this.

Ragdoll: Transposing on the fly! That is a very cool achievement - you must be super pleased with yourself! I know I would be!!!

_________________________ XVIII-XXXVISometimes I try to progress faster than I am ready for.SwissMsFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

This is not my achievement but WiseBuff's. When I came from home yesterday a beautiful, incredibly beautiful flower was waiting for me in a box. My husband was really impressed. He said, "you crazy piano people are very classy people". What a nice way to leave with a good note. Thank you WiseBuff.

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Solo - Rachmaninoff Elegie Op 3 #1, Schumann Op 12 Warum, Grillen and a few short pieces by various composersCollaboration - Concerto in C for Oboe and orchestra attributed to Haydn edited by Evelyn Rosewell and some duets

It's hard to imagine a greater compliment than being part of this group of "crazy piano people." When I read this thread of the care and devotion each of you put into the loving preparation of a piece of music I am not only impressed but in awe. Piano is not something you can approach half heartedly...it needs a full heart. I've loved my vacation in Scottsdale...baseball is good...warm weather is good...no work is good....meeting FarmGirl and husband was grand. Really looking forward to going home tomorrow to my piano and hoping that the few days away were good for my memory and my focus. That may be my AOTW

Well I did my midterm today.. And it was only in front of my piano teacher and another professor. I was still nervous and messed up on the Hungary piece. Hopefully I get a decent grade:) my piano teacher asked me if I was nervous afterwards because she couldn't tell. So I guess that's a good thing?:)

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All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.Walt Disney

Augustina, congrats on making it through the mid-term. Are you a university student or doing this as a later-in-life thing?

Ragdoll, good going on the on-the-fly transcription. I usually use MuseScore.

I like these words of wisdom from SwissMS.

Quote:

I have just begun to realize that it takes a LONG time for a major piece to be really learned.

If ever!

So many accomplishments here! You people are awesome!

My achievement of the week (actually weeks and weeks) is:1. Did some sightreading practice from Essential Keyboard Repertoire vol. 1 and vol. 2. Not every day, but at least some. I tend to memorize fairly quickly and this does not help sightreading.

2. Continuing with Canon in D. I'm usually under six minutes now for the version I'm playing, but more importantly, I've eliminated most of the hesitations--though not all of the random mistakes (grrr). I play this every day, sometimes as a warmup, sometimes as the last piece.

3. Speaking of hesitations: I started Chopin's Waltz in A Minor last spring, but put it aside after a few months (it was too sad after my cat died). I took it up again a month or so and it feels much better under my fingers. I'm still messing up the trill/mordent in m.51, but the rest is much improved, especially in m. 19-24, where before I had a lot of hesitations.

4. Made some progress with Married Life (from the movie UP). The score is nine pages long, and I'm working in chunks, so this may take awhile. The score has only a few pedal notations, but at the (very slow) tempo I'm at now, it doesn't sound that good without pedal.

I'm 33 years old and decided I wanted to take piano lessons. So for christmas, my husband got me a digital piano and i started taking an hour lesson once a week with a local piano teacher. Last Sunday, I had my first recital. It was probably the most nervewracking things I ever had to do especially since I was the only adult student among 15 5-11 year olds. In 3 months, I was able to perform Arabesque by Burgmuller and Minuet in G minor anh 115 by JS Bach infront of a crowd. The positive feedbacks I received after were so encouraging and motivating mad me want to get better at this. So tomorrow, I'm going to shop around for an accoustic piano in hopes that the feel of a real piano will help me with developing my techniques and play harder pieces in the future.

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Adult beginner since January 2013. My only regret is that I didn't learn sooner.

I had hoped I would be able to post something here, today, along the lines of "my class recital went really well, yesterday". Alas. It didn't.

So, as I've seen others do on this thread throughout the week, I'm trying to salvage the positive from what actually felt like a pretty crappy situation to me -- and that will have to suffice, as an AOTW. I got through my Beethoven piece with only one big mistake, which I guess is about as good as I could really expect things to get. But I did horrible on the Burgmuller, and I hadn't expected that (if anything, I would have thought the Beethoven would be the train wreck).

Had a seizure on the way home after the recital, and just as I was waking up, I heard the person who was with me (another piano student, who is also in my music theory class, and so has witnessed quite a few of my seizures already) say in annoyance: "ugh, always the same crap with you." And if I were really as strong and positive as I'd like to be, I wouldn't write about that here, and soldiering on in silence would be my other AOTW. But everything is a struggle. And everywhere I go, I have to justify to people (like the person from yesterday) the fact that I refuse to give up on having some semblance of a normal life, which includes regularly leaving the house on my own for work, piano lessons, and scouting, and so, yes, sometimes being a burden to the people who happen to be with me when something untoward happens. I'm sick of fighting all the time.

I started a list of 'dream pieces' I want to learn to play, because it will give me an overabundance of concrete, measurable goals for the long-term future. In this way, I am hoping that piano can become, and remain for years, a positive force in my life that gets me through the really rough patches -- one reason, among many, to keep on keepin' on.

Originally Posted By: Sand Tiger

I do some banter between pieces. I talk about the whistle and flute, Bach's birthday and a bit of his life story, my year of being self-taught on piano and I encourage others to try something new.

This is great. If you can do this, you seem to have your stage nerves pretty well under control! I'll take my hat off for that, sir.

Originally Posted By: casinitaly

Just happily plugging along with my assigned pieces and a bit of sight reading.

Plugging along is good! Especially if you're doing it happily . Also, jumping ahead because you somehow always manage to post at least twice before I get around to following up on this thread, congrats on figuring out what was causing your troubles with focus, and then implementing a solution!

Originally Posted By: FarmGirl

At least now I know the eel spots.

Kudos for finding the positive in something that must have been pretty annoying you!

Originally Posted By: SwissMS

So AOTW is to REMEMBER how to count triplets and eighths.

They *are* tricky, especially once you get up to any kind of a decent tempo. Way to go.

Originally Posted By: Ragdoll

Can't get out of the garage so lots of practice time today.

Taking a pretty crappy situation and turning it into a net positive ... I call that an achievement, too. Other than that, congrats on the progress you made with Canon in D and Down by the Sally Gardens. I plan on doing the promised transcription of the YouTube link you posted after I'm done with this thread.

Originally Posted By: fifi m

Managed to play Mozart's Fantasia in C Minor K475 beginning to end without too many stuff ups. Considering I haven't really played it in 15 years, and it has some very tricky passages, I'm quite chuffed.

I'd be chuffed if I were you, too!

Originally Posted By: Osmosis

I know it's only grade 1 but it feels like a massive accomplishment.

In my book, any public performance is a massive accomplishment, and doubly so when grades are at stake. So yay for you!

Originally Posted By: warlock214

Now I need to master the song. Any suggestions? How often should I practice the song? I'm gonna use the metronome to make sure my timing is right!! Excited!!

I'd be excited if I were you, too! My suggestion for practice would be: once daily (which is what I've been doing with my Beethoven for the past month or so, and it came out quite nicely at the recital yesterday, though I could have done better). And practice it at different tempos. You might want to play it a little more slowly than you normally do when actually at the recital, to compensate for nerves. But if you haven't practiced it that way in weeks, you *will* attempt to play it at your normal 'home' tempo, and fail.

Originally Posted By: Toastie

Piano is really quite life changing I have found. I never would have managed it all without piano lessons - firstly for giving me the confidence to set out on my own, and secondly for having something to get me through the stress of it all.

I'm finding the same thing in my own situation. Glad it works for you, too! Keep on keepin' on, you're in my thoughts.

Originally Posted By: torquenale

My AOTW is that, after one month, I started again with my Schumann piece, and it's better than expected.

I sometimes find that, after having practiced like crazy on a piece for a while, in order to progress further, I just need to let it sit for a while. Seems like you figured out the same thing about the Schumann piece. Don't sell yourself short, by the way. If you believe you can do it, that in itself may take you a very long way.

Originally Posted By: earlofmar

As always the answers are there before me so I went back to practicing Bartok's Mikrokomos and practicing to recognise and play intervals.

That's a good idea. Maybe I should go back to Mikrokosmos for sight reading practice, too. I liked it the first time we did it (with my last teacher, when I was fifteen), but I wasn't really sight reading then.

Originally Posted By: LarryShone

Actually being able to play two handed. Big step for me!

Big step in anyone's piano journey, indeed![/quote]

Originally Posted By: Ragdoll

I took a piece I'm fairly familiar with and transposed it on the fly to another key...in fact two other keys.

W00t! I didn't think I could do this, either, but I recently did it with my Burgmuller study, which I transposed from G major - D major to A minor - E minor because it suited my mood better at that time. It's a great feeling to know that actually, I *can* do that.

Originally Posted By: WiseBuff

It's hard to imagine a greater compliment than being part of this group of "crazy piano people."

Hear, hear!

Originally Posted By: Augustina

My piano teacher asked me if I was nervous afterwards because she couldn't tell. So I guess that's a good thing?:)

That *is* a good thing. Congratulations on getting through your midterm -- regardless of the grade.

Stubbie, there's too much there to quote you, but sincere congratulations on *all* of your accomplishments!

Had a seizure on the way home after the recital, and just as I was waking up, I heard the person who was with me (another piano student, who is also in my music theory class, and so has witnessed quite a few of my seizures already) say in annoyance: "ugh, always the same crap with you."

You heard some words. You shouldn't assume a context, a motivation or a basic lack of sympathy. He WAS with you, and WAS looking after you. I expect he would be very upset at any suggestion that he wouldn't, or didn't want to. However, a slightly exasperated "Oh, not AGAIN!!!" is not unreasonable after one of your attacks has delayed and inconvenienced his journey! He puts up with your imperfections. You put up with his.

You heard some words. You shouldn't assume a context, a motivation or a basic lack of sympathy. He WAS with you, and WAS looking after you. I expect he would be very upset at any suggestion that he wouldn't, or didn't want to. However, a slightly exasperated "Oh, not AGAIN!!!" is not unreasonable after one of your attacks has delayed and inconvenienced his journey! He puts up with your imperfections. You put up with his.

Just for clarification: I am not *assuming* anything, and certainly not a basic lack of sympathy.

My annoyance here is not with the person in question, or with their words in and of themselves. It's with the fact that I *am* an inconvenience to people in my life all the time, and there seems to be no reasonable way for me to avoid that. Suggestions offered up by others -- such as that I should take another person with me wherever I go, or that I should minimize the number of times I go outside the house in a week, or that I should move back in with my parents (seriously?) -- are at best things that would maybe offer me and everyone else in my life a bit of temporary reassurance for a few weeks. At worst, they are recipes for disaster. None of them are viable long-term solutions.

When I say that I feel like everything's a struggle, and that I'm tired of fighting all the time, it has nothing to do with 'fighting' this kind of perfectly normal expression of frustration on the part of someone who has been inconvenienced. It has to do with fighting to find solutions to problems that nobody seems to know how to deal with. It has to do with fighting to keep my 'normal life' going, despite these issues.

And before you jump on this to say that there are people with worse problems who manage perfectly fine: yes, I'm sure there are. In fact, I've met quite a few of these people. But I also know that all of them have had times in their lives when they felt like they were in over their heads, and they didn't know which way to turn anymore.

Like I said, I'm going through a rough patch right now. I am looking at all aspects of my life, and trying to find things that are still worth fighting for. The people on the ABF, and on this thread in particular, have been a great support to me in that, especially (and unsurprisingly) when it came to playing the piano. So I come back here from time to time to report on the ups and downs of my life in general, and my piano journey in particular.

I know you are no fan of the overabundance of praise and encouragement we heap onto each other here. I guess 'tough love' is more your speed, and that's cool as far as I'm concerned. You're right that I shouldn't assume anything to do with anyone else's motives for saying whatever they choose to say. If I really want to know, I should talk to them and ask. But I didn't *assume* anything. I just heard, and got annoyed -- with myself, with the situation, with the world at large. Maybe I shouldn't have. But then, I guess that's just another one of my many imperfections -- as you said, everyone has them, and there's nothing to do but deal with it.

Yes we all have imperfections,and just because you have seizures don't ever think you are an inconvenience or are weak!

This is EXACTLY the sort of mindless, worthless support that I campaign against!

Yes, the seizures ARE sometimes inconvenient to those around you. They COULD be described as a "weakness". Denying that would be idiotic. The point is that your friends and the community in general take it in their stride and, on the whole, cheerfully offer any support you need. Great, isn't it!

Yes, the seizures ARE sometimes inconvenient to those around you. They COULD be described as a "weakness". Denying that would be idiotic. The point is that your friends and the community in general take it in their stride and, on the whole, cheerfully offer any support you need. Great, isn't it!

I agree with every word of the quote above. I just wish I could figure out a graceful way to be less of an inconvenience .

Maybe it's just me, but the word "weakness" seems to imply that you could instead be strong and not suffer from those seizures. As if some choice is involved. I highly doubt that! And it bloody well is inconvenient. I bet it's a lot more inconvenient to Saranoya than to the people around her. The good thing is, most people can deal pretty well with some inconvenience and be there to support you anyway, for whatever reasons - friendship, the goodness of their heart, guilt if they don't help, salary for doing their job well, whatever it is. We humans are generally social folks and willing to support others in their time of need.

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

Yes, the seizures ARE sometimes inconvenient to those around you. They COULD be described as a "weakness". Denying that would be idiotic. The point is that your friends and the community in general take it in their stride and, on the whole, cheerfully offer any support you need. Great, isn't it!

I agree with every word of the quote above. I just wish I could figure out a graceful way to be less of an inconvenience .

The most "graceful" disabled person I know accepts help quietly, accepts that occasionally she CAN'T take part in something because no-one is available to assist her, and at Christmas sends cards and small presents - "to remind you how much I have appreciated your help over the last year". I expect she sometimes cries on the shoulder of a close friend, and has periods of privately being very unhappy.

This is, of course what she AIMS for. Sometimes, she's a right cow!

She is also a bloody nuisance to local officialdom, fighting for every possible publicly-funded support and service (and sometimes forgets that, though publicly-administrated, these are often actually provided by hard-stretched volunteers!).

I am truly sorry that you have more opportunity to be saintly than most of us :-)